Insulator



March 19, 1940. w. E. GIBBONS INSULATOR Filed Nov. 17, 1937 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 @www0 ATTORNEYS WITNESS Patented Mar. 19 1940 UNITED; STATES PATENT oFFicE 1 Claim.

My invention relates to insulators and more particularly to insulators adapted for use in greenhouses and the like. One of the principal f objects of my invention is to provide an insulator having means for tying the structure together and operable to form folds in the insulating material to effect a retracted or folded position of the structure.

Another object of my invention is to provide a structure of the above described character capable of being extended vto various positions over a predetermined area for the purpose of maintaining heat thereunder and which is capable of operation Ito a retracted position to permit a predetermined area thereunder 'to be exposed f Other objects andadvantages will be apparent in the following description, appended claim and annexed drawings.

Referring to the drawings wherein like reference characters designate like parts throughout the several views.

Figure 1 is a transverse sectional view of the upper section of a greenhouse illustrating my invention applied thereto in front elevation.

Figure 2 is a similar view but illustrating the invention in retracted position. V

Figure 3 is a fragmentary top plan View of one of the insulators.

Figure 4 is a detail sectional View taken on line 4 4 of Figure 1.

Figure 5 is a detail elevation illustrating an attaching means.

Figure 6 is a front elevation of an intermediate pulley assembly.

the pulley and cable area.

I'here is illustrated inthe drawings the upper section of a typical greenhouse having a roof 40 equipped with the usual windows and supported through the medium of a central rafter 5 and side rafters 6. The side rafters 6 are secured upon the side walls l having the usual windows 8. A longitudinally extending connecting rod 9 or cable supported between the front and rear walls of the greenhouse, intermediate of the side walls thereof,l has connected thereto outwardly and downwardly extending guy wires I0 having their outer ends connected to the rafters t whereby said Wires support insulators A and B by means of hook shaped eyes Il slidably engaging said wire and attached to slats carried by the insulators and hereinafter described.

The outer ends of the insulators are fashioned with depending sections C and D respectively Figure '7 is a diagrammatic View illustrating equipped with similar slats having snap-hooks I2 attached thereto whereby said sections are connected' by means of eyes I3l to the lower frames ofthe windows 8 for the purpose of prev venting the escape of heat when theinsulators arel in extended position. The hooks IZ'are adapted'to be attached to eyes lll secured to the outer end slats of the insulators whereby to position the extended sections in folded position-when the insulators are in retracted position-for the purpose of permitting the entrance of heat through the windows to within the greenhouse. f i 'i Each of the insulators comprises, in the preferred embodiment illustrated in the drawings,v strips of connected pliable material consisting of a top strip l5 of oiled silk or other suitable waterproof material; an intermediate layer I6 of one or `more thicknesses of foil, preferably constructed of aluminum, and abottom strip il of oiled silk or other suitable waterproof material. These strips are secured together by upper and lower longitudinally extending slats I8 in which are brads I9 binding the structure together. The outer end slats of insulators A and B have attached thereto hook shaped eyes 20hk and 20d respectively formed integrally with the eyes Ill. The inner end slats of the insulators A and B have secured thereto the hook shaped eyes 20a and 20c respectively. The eyes of the slats of the insulators are connected to ends of cables operable over pulleys and constitute a pulley and cable construction. The pulley and cable construction for operating the insulators comprises end pulley assemblies 2| and 22 and an intermediate pulley assembly .23.` The end pulley assemblies are secured to the side walls ofthe lgreenhouses adjacent and above the side windows and each assembly is provided with a pair of pulleys operable therein. The intero mediate pulley assembly ,23 is secured, intermediate of the side walls, by means of brackets 24 to the longitudinally extending tie rod 9. The tie rod 9 serves tofsecure the intermediate pulley assembly and guy wires in elevated position above the end pulley assemblies whereby the insulators are positioned in a downwardly and outwardly extending inclined plane when theyl are in extended position.

The intermediate pulley assemblies comprise octuple pulleys over which are'trained cables 25a, 25h', 25aa, 25th, 25o, 25d, 250e, and 25dd. The cable 25a is directly connected to the eye 20a, cable 25h directly to eye 20h, cable 25h11 is trained over one of the pulleys in the pulleyv assembly 2| and connected to the eye 201) and cable 25aa is trained over the other pulley and connected to eye 20a.

The cables 25e, and 25d are connected directly to the eyes 20c and 2nd respectively and the cables 250e and 25dd are trained over the pulleys in the assembly 22 and connected to the eyes 20c and 20d respectively.

In operation, the insulators being in the extended position shown in Figure 1, pull exerted on the depending ends of cables 25h and 25cc will move the outer end slat of insulator A and inner end slat of insulator B towards the adjacent strips and position the insulator A in folded or retracted position adjacent the intermediate pulley assembly 23 and the insulator B in like position adjacent the pulley assembly 22 as clearly illustrated in Figure 2 of the drawings. Operation of cables 25bb and 25e will reposition the insulators to the extended position illustrated in Figure 1.

By operating cables 25h and 25d the insulators are moved to retracted position adjacent the pulley assembly 23. Operation of cables 25h12 and 25dd reposition the insulators in extended position.

Operation of cables 25cm, and 25d position the insulators in folded position, insulator A assuming a position adjacent the pulley assembly 2i and insulator B assuming a position adjacent the pulley assembly 23. From this position the insulators are moved to extended position by operating cables 25a and 25dd.

Each of the insulators may be moved to folded position adjacent the side Walls by operating cables 25aa and 25cc and from this position may be extended by operating cables 25a and 25e.

In each of the operations heretofore described for moving the insulators to folded or retracted positions, the depending sections are secured to eyes I4 by means of hooks I2, the same being illustrated in Figure 2 of the drawings.

From the foregoing it will be apparent that the insulators may be moved to various positions to permit the area coverable by said insulators to be exposed to the heating iniluence of the sun and that the insulators may be moved to extended position when it is desirable to maintain heat thereunder and to prevent the escape of the same. It is to be noted that each of the insulators are to be provided with a sufcient number of eyes on the slats for attachment to a number of sets of the cables for the efficient operation thereof and likewise, a suilcient number of pulley assemblies are to be provided.

What I claim is:

An insulating structure, comprising framework through which sunlight can pass and enclosing a space in which heat sensitive operations are performed, a series of panels carried by said framework and each composed of a thin strip of materia-1 including a highly reilective metal in sheet form, means for moving said panels to cover said space whereby the preponderance of the heat radiated from the floor of said space is reflected back thereto and means for moving said panels to a folded position in which sunlight can pass through said framework to the floor thereof. 

